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Owing to the current ongoing situation, the DTCA 2020 AGM which had been booked for the end of June, cannot now take place. We will have to try and reschedule for later in the year once matters are clearer.

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-518 and 1518 Renault R 4 L (1962-1971 and 1974-1978)

The Renault 4L was produced by Meccano France from 1962-1971. It was issued with steering wheel direction, suspension, interior, windows and highly detailed silver trim around the car. It got model number 518 and replaced the 524 Renault Dauphine. The Renault 4L was also available in UK with the same model number 518 and was part of a series of imported Dinky Toys from France to UK with the slogan "Dinky Toys from Paris ". I show model 518 (in a somewhat strange UK order) in the various advertisements in Meccano Magazine France and UK and the DT catalogues and leaflets.

1961: Left Renault 4L with decorative trim. Right the cheaper version: Renault R3 without decorative trim.

A Renault 4L car getting up the stairs of Rialto Bridge, Venice, 1961.

A Renault 4L car getting down the stairs of Rialto Bridge, Venice, 1961.

Because the rear torsion bars are located one behind the other, the wheelbase is longer on the right side than on the left.

Renault 4 chassis.

Helicopter view of the inside of the Renault 4

Renault 4L sales brochure 1961

Renault 4L sales brochure 1961

Renault 4 model variations through the years.

Wikipedia:

The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle"), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.

The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch; eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. Although originally marketed as a small estate car, it is now regarded as the first mass production hatchback car.

I show pictures of the only example that I have acquired in the colour light blue on which you can see the highly detailed silver trim around the whole car... and pictures of the real Renault 4. There are different colours and variants of the 518 issued, including those made by Poch in Spain. I hope that others want to contribute variations and information’s of this beautiful model.

Jan -- some lovely details about the Renault 4. I'm ashamed to say that while I have owned four Renaults -- a 4, a 5, and two US-model 9's (Alliance and GTA), I did not even know about the existence of the 3!! The latter's lack of a rear window of course reminds me of the R4 van as modeled by Dinky in the PTT version.

I will always feel a special connection with the 4 because my son was almost born in mine as we drove to hospital on a windy, wintry night in fen country. My wife's contractions were such that she could not bear to sit in the passenger seat, so I folded down the rear one so she could lie back there. On the two-lane road into town, which would be traveled at 60-mph speed by many commuters only a few hours later, high winds lifted the car and moved it on the ice until we were sideways blocking the middle of the road.

The 4's name was Andre. I guess if my son had come a little sooner his would have had to have been, too.

I was not aware of the presence of letters under the left front wing of model 518, mentioned by Richard in his contribution New Arrivals number # 1161. The one of Richard without letters should be the first version. When I went to look under my 518 I found the letter A under the left front wing and should thus be a later version.

Renault 4L of Richard without letters under the left wing (photo Richard DTCA)

My Renault 4L with letter A under the left wing

To look for more information I went to search on the French Ebay. I found some French ads of model 518, which speak about "Moule AB et plaque arrière décentrée", but no further explanation about the added pictures, so I am still left after with a few questions.

Is there also a 518 version with the letters AB under the left front wing? And what does "plaque arrière décentree" mean? My knowledge of the French language is insufficient to explain this. Does it have to do with the license plate on the back of the 518? Whether it is exactly in the middle of the rear or not?

The book of JMR don't say anything about this, so I hope that Richard or Jacques can explain this. Are there pictures?

Richard. Indeed, books can hardly be complete, because we are constantly discovering new details in our collection. That's the fun of the research of casting- and colour variations of each model.

Many thanks for your valuable contribution and explanation of these different versions of the Renault 4L with the pictures included. I add a photo of the rear of my Renault 4L. I think the license plate of my 518 is fairly centered compared to your example.